Page 71 of The Moonstone Marquess
But he seemed determined to overlook her implication. “Well, until you have made your choice, then any man can hope. Can he not?”
She ignored the question. “Tell me, what do you two have planned for tomorrow? Lord Burness mentioned he was taking you on a tour of the Duke of Malvern’s property. It is excellently run. I think you will learn a lot from Mr. Weston. He is married to our cousin, Prudence. I’ve been meaning to invite her to tea. Perhaps you shall all come over after you are done. Please bring Mr. Weston with you.”
They finished their walk and returned to Chloe and the girls.
Cormac knelt beside them. “What have you drawn, ducklings?”
To him, their drawings were similar to the stick figures they had drawn the other day. But Ella began to explain her artistic vision to him. “That’s our mama and that’s our papa and that’s me and Imogen. That’s our house in London. And that’s our dog.”
Cormac frowned. “You don’t have a dog.”
“Mama doesn’t want us to keep a dog, so Ella and I have a pretend dog,” Imogen explained to him.
“Ah, I see. And what is the name of your pretend dog?”
“Snuggles,” Ella said.
Cormac’s lips twitched upward in the hint of a smile. Lord, these girls were so sweet. If he’d ever had a pretend dog, he probably would have named it Hellhound or Apocalypse, and it would likely have had fangs. But that was just him, and he really had been an incorrigible child.
Phoebe stifled a giggle, but he saw the smile in her eyes and knew she was thinking exactly the same thing about him.
He chuckled and gave her a playful wink.
“Chloe says Phoebe can draw,” Ella said.
“She says Phoebe is an artist,” Imogen added.
Cormac was immediately interested. “Is this true? Do you have any works to show us?”
“She has a sketchbook full,” Chloe chimed in. “I’ll bring it down.”
“No!” Phoebe cried, immediately blushing.
Chloe dismissed her reluctance. “You shouldn’t be so modest about your talent. The girls are eager to see your work, too. Stop fussing. I’ll run up and get your book. I know where you hide it.”
“Chloe! I don’t hide it. I tuck it safely away because I—”
Too late. Chloe was already bounding up the stairs.
Phoebe sighed. “Well, I’ve done a few sketches of the girls. One or two of you, Lord Burness.”
Cormac arched an eyebrow in surprise and grinned. “Should I be worried?”
She blushed when Chloe returned downstairs and handed the sketchbook over to him. He paused a moment before flipping it open, intending to give Phoebe time to protest if she really did not want him to see what she had drawn.
But she seemed all right with it, although obviously shy about her talent.
The first were sketches of the view from her bedchamber window, lovely landscapes of the garden and the shimmering sea beyond it. The next few were of boats in the harbor. He drew in a breath when he got to the next set of drawings. “Phoebe, these are beautiful. Imogen, Ella, look.”
She had drawn the girls, somehow managing to capture their sweetness and playful charm. He knew his brother would love these portraits. Phoebe had gotten everything right—their button noses, their little heart-shaped lips, the glimmer in their eyes, and the exact bounce to the curls in their hair.
Ella and Imogen were fascinated.
He turned to the next pages and saw himself staring back.
“Uncle Cormac, that’s you,” Ella said softly.
“I see that.” She had caught his every nuance, down to the haunted look in his eyes. But it was not a dark, sullen drawing, for she had also captured the rake in him and his vitality.
